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Founder

About Julius Onyiego Mogere

Known as Jo Mogere

Founder, BookedUp Africa. Based in Kenya.

Portrait of Julius Onyiego Mogere, known as Jo Mogere, founder of BookedUp Africa

Julius Onyiego Mogere is the founder of BookedUp Africa, a digital marketing consultancy built specifically for hotels and resorts in Kenya and East Africa. Jo Mogere is his personal brand. He has worked in hospitality digital marketing since March 2025, hands-on with individual properties on local SEO, direct bookings and experiential marketing.

His approach comes from the day-to-day work: managing Google Business Profiles, booking engines and channel managers for real properties, with direct experience on platforms like Zeevou, Beds24 and Lodgify. He shares what he learns through free guides, videos, published case studies with real numbers, and two playbooks for hotel owners.

"Research and implementation for local search, experiential marketing, and hospitality growth — for hotels that want the work done, not just a report explaining it."

How It Started

Before hospitality, Jo worked with general businesses, helping them get on the map and show up in local search. That changed in Naivasha, during the WRC rally.

With a big event coming up, he realised visitors would be looking for somewhere to stay at the last minute. They wouldn't open booking apps and compare. They would search, typing things like "guesthouse near me" or "bed and breakfast near Hell's Gate". So he walked into a nearby guesthouse, Jazby Guest House, and offered to help it reach those guests: people in a micro-moment, ready to book now. Jazby was his first.

Wild Wood Cottages and Luna Light Guest House followed. Then came Elsamere Lodge and Silent Palms Villa in Diani, and with them the idea of direct bookings. While working with Elsamere Lodge, he saw how much a property can depend on online travel agencies (OTAs) for its bookings. He started putting in place what a property can do to bring in direct bookings, and how the guest experience helps drive them.

That is why BookedUp Africa is built around three things that work together: being found at the moment of search, turning that attention into direct bookings, and giving guests an experience that keeps both growing. Read the Elsamere Lodge case study to see what that looks like in numbers.

What Jo Works On

  • Local SEO. Getting hotels found in Google Maps and local search through Google Business Profile, citations and reviews. Start with the Google Business Profile guide.
  • Direct bookings. Booking engines, channel managers and the free Google booking link, so guests book with the hotel instead of through a commission-charging platform. See how to reduce OTA dependence.
  • Experiential marketing. Turning the guest experience into reviews, content and repeat business. Read experiential marketing for hotels.

Properties Jo Has Worked With

In the order he started working with them:

  1. Jazby Guest House, Naivasha (his first)
  2. Wild Wood Cottages
  3. Luna Light Guest House
  4. Elsamere Lodge
  5. Silent Palms Villa, Diani
Aerial view of Jazby Guest House in Naivasha, a two-storey building with a red roof and a sign on the left, with two vehicles parked on the street in front
Jazby Guest House, Naivasha
Garden at Wild Wood Cottages with a large cream umbrella over a table on a green lawn and a timber cottage in the background
Wild Wood Cottages
Aerial view of Elsamere Lodge beside Lake Naivasha, with buildings scattered among yellow acacia trees along the shore and a road on the left
Elsamere Lodge
Aerial view of Elsamere Lodge on the shore of Lake Naivasha, with buildings scattered among yellow-barked acacia trees beside the lake and a road on the left
Elsamere Lodge, Lake Naivasha
Aerial view of Silent Palms Villa in Diani, a cream-coloured villa with a turquoise swimming pool and sun loungers surrounded by palms and trees
Silent Palms Villa, Diani

He has also worked with Mt Longonot Country Resort. Elsamere Lodge and Silent Palms Villa have published case studies with real numbers.

Jo Mogere Links

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